Author: Scott

I was having a conversation with one of our board members. Talking about faith. Talking about our relationships with Christ. We agreed that being humbled by something quite possibly is one of the most important times in a man’s life. It’s in those moments that we can truly look at ourselves and figure out what it is we need to work on. Those times can be hard. Very hard. But, those times can be beneficial. Very beneficial. If we let them. We have to look at those as the times we can truly grow. It’s up to us.

Some might think I was crazy. But, when I used to work out, I loved the pain. I knew the pain was going to lead to building strength. During those moments of pain, our muscle fibers are being broken down, then built back up. The same can be said about our spiritual lives. God provides moments for us that can be painful. Moments where we wonder, why it is we are going through, what it is we are going through. We question those times. How could God allow this to happen? Moments where our health isn’t so good. Moments where our relationships seem to be falling apart. Moments where we lose loved ones to death. So much pain can come from these. It’s natural to wonder why.

For believers, I would like to suggest that it’s during those times that God is building us for something that’s coming. Preparing us. We might not know it at that moment. But hold fast. God is setting us up for something. For non-believers, I would like to suggest that it’s during those moments that God is breaking their hearts. Convicting them. Telling them that they need to turn towards him. Telling them that he is there if they seek him. He will not stop convicting them either. Actually, he will not stop convicting any of us. As I said earlier, it’s during those moments that he’s building us. So today, let’s look at those hard times as opportunities to grow. To grow in our personal lives. To grow in our personal relationships. And most importantly, to grow in our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

One of the greatest emotional gifts that God has given us is passion. Being passionate about something can be a wonderful feeling. And there are different types of passion. For example, I had a passion for playing basketball years ago. I loved it. Now, I have passion now when I go hunting. I love it. Having passion for what you do can be motivating. It can get us excited about what we are doing. There can be passion in our marriages. I have deep passion for my bride. I love her wholeheartedly. And I also think that as believers, we should have passion when we serve God. To put it clearly: Men/Women of God should have passion.

Have there been times in your life that you have stepped out of your comfort zone because of something you were passionate about? Some thing that you did that was out of the ordinary? Maybe even considered extreme by others? Possibly dangerous? Let’s think about our Lord and Savior. Let’s think about Jesus for a moment. He had passion. He lived with it. He died with it. Movies and plays have been called The Passion. Go back in your mind to when he was on earth. Think about the things that he did that were extreme for that time. Would you have touched lepers? Would you now? Do you associate with “known” sinners? See where I’m going!

When I played and coached basketball, there was no doubt that I was going to leave everything I had on the floor when I was done. I gave it all that I had. I try to do that now with my family. I try to do that now with the ministry. I’m sure I come up short sometimes. But I still try my best. That’s what God wants for us. He wants us to live a life full of passion. Full of spirit. And he wants us to serve him in this manner. With all that we have! It’s easy for us to get caught up and going day by day. Paycheck to paycheck. Nothing wrong with keeping that in mind. But, maybe today would be a great day to start letting the Holy Spirit move your heart in a way it never has. Maybe today is a day to step out of your comfort zone and live life full of passion. Maybe today is a day to at least give it a try. Maybe today is the day…To love God passionately.

Isn’t it simply awesome that we have a Lord and Savior in heaven. Sitting on the throne. He went there to prepare a place for us. Waiting for us. All the while, he’s guiding us on earth. Watching over us. Giving us hope and joy. And that is incredible. Simply incredible. But we cannot forget what happened before he ascended to heaven. The crucifixion.

I heard a message one time at church. Very powerful stuff. It was titled The Four Calls of the Cross: Universality, Conviction, Compassion, and Forgiveness. It’s important for us to remember these things. These are the reasons why Jesus paid the ultimate price. So today, let’s work on these four things. Let’s follow the example led by Christ.

First, let’s be united. Let’s be united in serving one another. There is strength in numbers. Let’s be united in our mission to show others grace. Second, let’s follow our convictions. God‘s not going to stop convicting us. We can choose to act on it or not. Up to us. But, I suggest we follow our convictions. Third, let’s have compassion. Compassion towards one another. Let’s break our hearts and be open to serving others in this manner. Finally, forgiveness is the key. So very important. Let’s release what’s burdening our hearts. Let’s forgive to release what we’re holding on to. That’s a gift from Jesus to us. What Jesus did on the cross for us was of his own doing. Not ours. We made the mess. He cleaned it up. He did so for us to be united with him. Universality, conviction, compassion, and forgiveness. All for us. All done on the Cross.

Yesterday we had a family gathering. We had our kids and our grandkids that live locally over at the house for a few hours. We love times like this. Moments where we get to spend afternoons just talking. Talking about the good things happening in our lives. And talking about the not so good things happening in our lives. Unfortunately, it seems like many people that we know are currently going through some not so good things. It’s a sad reality. But it’s part of being human. Even though the path has been paved. Even though we have paradise waiting for us. We must face the struggles here on earth.

Everyone goes through difficult circumstances at one time or another. We find ourselves discouraged. Losing jobs. Our health taking a turn for the worse. Financial struggles. Relationships ending. Facing death. So many things. And it’s during those moments that we can lose sight on God. We can lose sight on the hope that he provides. I believe that is when Satan creeps in and tells us God is not there. Telling us that if God loved us so much, why would he allow us to struggle. He is the ultimate liar.

No matter what we are going through, let’s remember that this is temporary. Let’s remember that God promises hope and love. No matter the struggles, let’s remember these things. Just remember that eternity is waiting for us. Take rest knowing this. Let’s never turned a blind eye on the sacrifice Jesus made, but let’s always believe in the joy that awaits us. The pain and struggles we face or temporary. And they are nothing in comparison to what awaits us in heaven.

Yesterday we conducted Operation Spoonbill. It was the end of the week that began with Easter. It was a great way to end the week. The fellowship was amazing. Several fish were caught. But more importantly, the Holy Spirit was present. The message given yesterday talked about taking that step towards knowing Jesus. Taking that step to move towards him in our lives. Taking that step towards eternity with Jesus. It was a short message. But it was a very powerful message. And it was very fitting in conjunction with Easter. Because the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, gives us the opportunity to take that step towards him. Wow!

As Christians, Easter weekend is the most momentous weekend in history. Even more important than Christmas. Think about why it is that we are celebrating this weekend. What it is really about. This weekend is about three things: Jesus’s death, burial, and Resurrection! That’s it. Those three things. And those are for us. He died to pay the sacrifice for our sins. The ultimate sacrifice for our sins. So we can then inherit eternity with him. Read that again. He died so we can have eternity with him. Wow! This was an incredible victory over sin. A victory over death. A victory for us. 

Now, I would like to pose an important question for you. I’m not saying that this is more important than his death. Or his resurrection. But it’s something that we must truly consider. As you read this, be honest with yourself. Be truthful. Analyze yourself. Look deep inside. Here it is, “What are you doing now…that honors Jesus?” We cannot sit back and let his final act on earth just be considered a final act. We must do all that we can do show others the importance of it. There’s one way to heaven. And that’s through Jesus. And there are people out there that don’t know this. Even more distressing is that there are people out there that do know this, but do not care. It’s our job to teach them. To show them. To help them understand what was so important with what took place some 2000 years ago. Let’s keep that in our minds and in our hearts. And let’s do what we can to help others come to understand that too. Let’s remember that Jesus loves us so much, that he suffered for us, so we can be united with him. Let’s take that first step. And let’s help others do the same.

Sometimes we catch ourselves getting caught up in doing things just to do them. It’s easy for that to happen. It’s a very busy world that we live in. Technology has made things easier. But it also has made things happen quicker. And with that, we find ourselves doing “more” things. There’s nothing wrong with being busy. We have heard the saying, “An idle mind is a dangerous mind.” But there is a danger if we’re not careful. The danger of being too busy is that we can lose sight of our relationship with God.

Sometimes we need to just sit back and take a moment to refocus. To make sure we keep our sights on God. Sometimes we need to simply reset. Reconnect. In the Bible, we learn about being still. I may be wrong, but I think that’s God‘s way of telling us to make sure that we are seeking him in all that we are doing. Because, it’s in that moment when we are sitting still, that we can truly turn our eyes towards God. Focus on listening to him. 

So today, let’s take inventory on what we are doing. Let’s make sure that we are not simply doing things to say we did them. Charlie 22 Outdoors is focused on keeping the mission on point. Simply striving to make sure that everything that we do is in line with showing hope, love, and a personal meaning that comes from God‘s grace. We can also align this mission in our personal lives. No matter what we are doing. We can always strive to show God‘s grace. Let’s make today the beginning of doing this. Let’s strive to listen to his voice every day. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

Most of us wake up each day, and we have a pretty similar schedule to what happened the day before. Especially during the work week. We wake up. Get ready. Have breakfast. Head to work. Next day. Repeat. Often times, our weekends can also seem to be a routine. Even though we get caught in the rhythm of repeating ourselves, I still believe we always have an end goal in mind. We keep in focus why it is we’re doing what we are doing. Everything is geared towards the purpose. The reason we’re doing it.

Tonight is the beginning of Final Four weekend in Division I College basketball. The women play tonight. The men play tomorrow. This is the end of a long grinding season for everyone. The end goal is within reach for all of the teams playing this weekend. And that would be to win a championship. They have been working towards this for several months now. Practicing. Training. Conditioning. Over, and over, and over. I imagine most of the players have had very few, if any, days off. Pushing towards this end goal. The purpose for why they put themselves through all of what they have gone through.

Our spiritual life should also have an end goal in mind. Our spiritual life should have a purpose. Our purpose should be to serve God. We should live our lives daily like this. Routine or not, we should follow the plan that God has in place for us. We should take steps each day towards the purpose. Towards the end goal. Obviously, we want to spend eternity in heaven with our Lord and Savior. But while getting there, I believe we should spend our time trying to show others who he is. That should be our purpose. Worshiping him. And showing others who he is. Whether we’re going to work each day. Or we spending the weekends relaxing. The end goal should be our focus.

This Saturday, we host Operation Spoonbill. For those of you that don’t know, this is a fishing event we put on for veterans. Basically, you troll through the river or the lake trying to snag these fish. We will have 6 boat captains and around 20 veterans there fishing. Two things about this day stick out to me: Serving others and Snagging. Let me explain.

Jesus tells us to serve others. There are several reasons why. Here are a few. We do so to help them. To show them love. And to show them the grace that only comes from Jesus. Ultimately, trying to lead them to a relationship with Jesus. And that is what our boat captains will do. Serve others! Place their needs before their own. Doing what they can to show them grace. 

Now, as you read this, realize that I am not saying anything negative about what we were doing. I think you will get the point. Snagging shows us something else. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in the traps of the evil one. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in a hopeless situation. He’s out there. Waiting for the opportunity to trap us. Often times, baiting us into traps. Other times, chasing after us. However he may be pursuing us, we must be vigilant and not get caught up in the snags. Here is something that’s even more incredible. If we do catch ourselves in the traps of evil one, Jesus will still be there to pull us away. To lead us out of the snags. He will not forsake us, even when we are undeserving. He is always there. Waiting for us to seek him. And he will accept us, even when we have gone astray. So maybe today is the day for you to seek him. Maybe today is a day for you to get out of the snags of the evil one. Maybe today is the day for you to receive the grace that only comes from Jesus. Make today…The Day.

Today, this is a difficult topic for many of us. Including myself. As I have gotten older, I have gotten better at this one. Don’t get me wrong. I still have a long way to go. Probably something that I will be working on for the rest of my life. And I know many of us have a very difficult time with this. But, we have to work on getting bitterness out of our hearts. We have to work on getting it out of our hearts as soon as we begin to feel it. If we catch it early, it’s easier for us to move past it. If we let it sit, it will begin to fester. And then we will have a bigger mess just like a wound that has festered for a while.

Now…we might question why this is important. Why should we remove bitterness as much as we can? After all, we’re seeing people hold onto anger and hatred towards each other like never before. Even among some of our elected officials. We are seeing backbiting. We are seeing sabotaging. Deliberately trying to discredit each other. It’s a real ugliness. Not everyone is doing this. But we’re seeing enough, especially in the media, that it looks like it’s the majority. It may or may not be. That is not the point though. The point is, we need to do what we can to get out of our hearts. We need to move beyond it. But why?

We are called to serve others. We are called to love one another. We are called to look past the faults of others. We don’t have to like what they’re doing. We don’t have to agree with it either. And nothing says that we must say it is ok. And I’m not saying people shouldn’t be held accountable. I believe in accountability. And I am not saying people shouldn’t be brought to justice. I believe in justice. Especially, when the Law has been broken. But holding on to the bitterness, can overtake the joy in our hearts. Holding onto it doesn’t make the situation better. Actually, maybe just the exact opposite. Seeking revenge doesn’t solve anything. If we let it go, it releases us. We can move past it. If we can let it go, we can focus on much glorious things. Much more beautiful things. And that is such a Release! More than I can explain. Please believe me…I know from experience. So today, let’s work on releasing the bitterness. Let’s focus on Jesus. Let’s focus on joy. Let’s focus on love and serving others.